I wanted to share something I made for our 4th of July cook-out that was very well-received. Food boards are still a 'thing.' There's something very appealing about their display that truly makes the sum greater than the parts.
Last week, I mentioned s'mores in my menu plan for the holiday. I had graham crackers and two large chocolate bars (one milk, one dark) on hand. I also had my personal s'mores favorite, a bar of unsweetened baking chocolate in the baking cupboard. While grocery shopping last week I picked up the bag of marshmallows that I still needed. The more I thought about offering s'mores, the more I thought it would be fun to add more to the mix. The result was a fun twist on the classic cook-out treat, elevating a simple dessert to one that felt like luxury: a Homestyle S'mores Board. And yet, I didn't spend anything extra beyond the marshmallows.
I gathered our ingredients and arranged them on a wooden tray, charcuterie-style. The overall effect of a food board should be one of abundance and variety, allowing the beauty of actual foods, unwrapped, to serve as artistic elements.
To fill out my board, I raided the pantry and fridge for all of the extras. Here's what I included:
- The Basics: Classic graham crackers and fluffy marshmallows.
- The Chocolates: Three different varieties of chocolate bars broken into easy-to-grab squares.
- The Refrigerator and Pantry Rescues: Slices of fresh banana, a jar of chocolate-hazelnut spread (donated to the cause by one daughter), a cup of natural peanut butter, and a jar of our homemade rhubarb-vanilla jam (which added a spectacular tart, gourmet contrast to the sweetness of the marshmallows and chocolate).
- The Festive Sparkle: Small vials of red and blue sugar sprinkles and multi-colored cake decors for sprinkling onto the toasty marshmallow edges as they oozed out from the graham cracker sandwich.
Cost-wise, the s'mores board was a massive victory, gaining its extravagance from the extras I already had on hand. A comparable dessert with great visual appeal would have either cost a pretty penny at the bakery or involved an hour or two of my time baking. Instead, what I put together used foods from my kitchen and took 10 minutes to assemble.
This 4th of July's cook-out s'mores board served as a delicious reminder that creating a special holiday memory doesn't require a large share of the grocery budget, special talent, or a lot of time. It just takes a little creativity, a bit of presentation, and the simple joy of gathering around the fire on a summer evening.
What's your favorite way to make a s'more? Are you a traditionalist, or do you like to mix things up? Part of our fun was comparing all of our s'mores. Some of us liked the fruity twist. Others went for the peanut butter and banana taste sensation. And one of us sampled it all on a single s'more. What would you add to a s'mores board? Share in the comments.
Looks like a fun and attractive variety for your s'mores board! Personally, I'm pretty much a traditionalist, enjoying standard milk chocolate, plain marshmallows, and graham crackers. The gluten-free graham crackers taste very different than regular ones to me, adding their own twist. Over the years, though, we've played with variations, some of which my kids enjoy, such as flavored marshmallows or using peanut butter cups or Rolos for the chocolatey portion. I have read about, but not personally tried, using different cookies (think generic thin mint cookies or fudge striped shortbread) in place of the graham crackers.
ReplyDeleteOn other fun twist some of my backpacking/camping friends love is to do savory s'mores, where you "toast" the cheese over the fire, then put it on a cracker with some salami or other meat. Kind of a charcuterie meets s'mores idea.
Can't sign in today, but this is Cat.
Hi Cat,
DeleteI've heard of using various cookies in place of the graham crackers, too. When I was a teen, our church youth group camped on the beach for a weekend. We used plain cake donuts for the graham crackers, cutting each donut in half horizontally. They were pretty good, but I think I like the crispness of the graham crackers.
I love the idea of a charcuterie 's'more.' Do you make large-ish cheese cubes to toast? I think my family would enjoy these.
I know some of them have used the Babybel cheeses, which now come in many varieties (these also hold up well while hiking, so my hiking partner and I pack them as part of our daily snacks) but I've also seen online the recommendation to use Brie or fresh mozzerella. I'd assume it has to be cut a bit thicker than just a slice in order to put it on the skewer? If you search "savory s'mores" I find lots of delicious-sounding ideas such as honey, cheese, and fruit on a cracker.
DeleteCat
Thank you for more info, Cat. I'll search savory s'mores and see what others have tried. Thanks!
DeleteSmores from my childhood seemed to be better than as an adult. We have a fire pit outside way in the back of our property but it is used for burning fallen branches, limbs and trees that have fallen down on our property and our neighbor's. It is a work fire pit so the draw to have a campfire for hotdogs or smores just isn't there. Nothing casual and enjoyable is defined by the fire pit unfortunately. We can't have open burns but it has to be in a confined pit for the tons of cleanup we need to do every year. We used to do pizza pies and cherry pies over the fire when we were kids and though we still have the forms, we just don't use them. We're boring over here but at least I can laugh at ourselves for not finding fun when it's right in front of us!
ReplyDeleteHi Alice,
DeleteI haven't heard of doing pizzas or cherry pies. It sounds like you must use some sort of 'iron.' That sounds like a lot of fun!
We've done foil dinners before, where you put your meal into a packet of foil, fold it up and cook it in the coals. Those are fun and a good way to cook individually-tailored meals for the group, using 'healthier' (vegetables and leaner meats) ingredients than hot dogs.
We can only have fires in our backyard if they are used for cooking. We can't burn yard waste here. We get around that by having a lot of cook-outs, burning up our seasoned windfall branches and such that way.
It's called a cast iron pie iron that you use bread slices for the crust and you put the slices of bread on each side and fill the inside with pizza sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni and top with the other side of pie iron. Many use pie filling between the slices of bread. Then it goes into the coals, flipping often and you get a pie with a delicious crust made of bread. We also cannot burn yard waste but we carefully break the rules by feeding the fire gently and only burn twigs, wood and no leaves or grass. There is no other option for the volume we get of fallen branches and trees but slow over the course of the summer in an enclosed fire pit does the trick. In essence it isn't any different than a campfire in the backyard but we feed it all day long in small(ish) batches and are very careful. Kind of what you do!
DeleteThank you for this additional information, Alice. Pizza or fruit pies sound like such a fun way to make a meal outdoors.
DeleteThe ridiculous thing about some of these regulations around burning outdoor waste is we have very few choices in how to dispose of fallen branches. We're not supposed to add these to our regular garbage. If we just let them sit in a corner of our yard, they make a perfect habitat for rodents, which we don't want either. Branches fall down every year. And we simply need a way to dispose of it all. We use our leaves and grass clippings in compost or as mulch under evergreen shrubs and trees. It's just the branches that are an issue. So we have a lot of cook-outs (perfectly legal when cooking food in my area) all summer.
I should add that hubby is doing better although this is going to be a long process to get fully cured. July 3 was his birthday and so we got him a new grill and made grilled roasted chicken leg quarters with potato salad and 7 layer salad for four of us. We ended up having the variety of lasagnas on Monday instead and enjoyed that separate from the grilled chicken. Thanks everyone for your well wishes, prayers and wonderful advice!
ReplyDeleteHi Alice,
DeleteI'm very glad he's making progress. It can be a slow road back to health, from what I read. And also glad to hear about your husband's birthday celebration. It sounds delicious!
Alice, so good to hear that your husband is improving. May it continue.
DeleteS'mores are something we are more likely to do when camping, and in that instance, I try to keep things simple. That being said, I occasionally host my daughter's friends or our church's young adult group, and that would be a fun food option. I would enjoy the rhubarb vanilla jam with just a spoon!
ReplyDeleteI like the charcuterie s'more idea. As for the iron pies, they are a big thing to do in Michigan. We have made them while camping, mostly the pie filling kind (but the grilled sandwiches are fun, too, and tasty).
If you are looking for other similar ideas, I've done a popcorn bar before. Popcorn, different kinds of salt, toppings like peanuts/M&Ms ..... very fun and customizable and an inexpensive treat. I've also served a mac and cheese bar before, with toppings like toasted bread crumbs/crushed crackers/goldfish crackers, crumbled bacon, shredded cheese, etc.
Always good to see other's ideas! Thanks!
Hi Kris,
DeleteI love the idea of a popcorn bar. What a fun way to do a snack for a group! When I read you mac and cheese bat, I immediately thought bacon bits would be my favorite topping. I also think green onions or chopped jalapenos would be good toppers for mac and cheese. Thanks for the suggestions!
I'm a traditionalist in the s'mores area, but that's good idea adding the other toppings. A great idea for a crowd. Although, we're not supposed to burn anything here either, and we have an induction stove, so I don't think we'll be roasting marshmallows anytime soon. :(
ReplyDeleteOh I am so sad for you Live and Learn. How can you have summer without a s'more? But maybe you don't love them as much as my family does. We do s'mores in the microwave when we can't wait for another cookout. If you lived in my area, I would be sure to invite you over for a cookout and s'mores!
DeleteI love your idea of the s’mores charcuterie board. We do hot cocoa bars in the winter, with both peppermint and chocolate dissolving spoons, lots of whipped cream and toppings. We do s’mores in the summer with the grandkids. They wanted to make s’mores last week. Yikes! Hottest days/nights of the summer, so my 6 year old granddaughter created what she calls s’moresies. Dishes of vanilla ice cream with graham cracker crumbles, drizzled with dark chocolate syrup, and miniature marshmallows. The best part is drizzling a little bit of Monin’s Toasted Marshmallow Syrup over it all. Truly tastes like toasted marshmallows and it gives the miniature marshmallows a nice golden brown color. We didn’t mind sitting outside when the temperature was still in the 80’s at night if we could have cool, creamy s’moresies. Annie
ReplyDeleteS’moresies sounds like a great alternative for such warm nights! Good idea. Thanks!
DeleteYour granddaughter's invention s'moresies is pure genius, Annie! This is one my family will definitely try some hot day this summer. Thank you for this idea.
DeleteI've done cocoa bars some winters. I mix up two jars of homemade cocoa mix, one with powdered milk, one with powdered soy milk, Then I put out small jars of different toppings -- sprinkles, broken candy canes, chocolate chips. And I keep it all on the kitchen counter for the winter. I didn't do it this last year. I think I'll need to add that back to this next winter.
I love that you keep it out all winter! How convenient, and tempting. I make s’mores cupcakes in the fall for a big get together. Graham cracker crust on the bottom, dark chocolate cupcake, homemade marshmallow topping, drizzles of dark chocolate and a sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs on top. I also make a hot cocoa version, chocolate cookie crust, dark chocolate cupcake, marshmallow frosting, peppermint sprinkles with dark and white chocolate curls. A miniature peppermint candy cane stuck on the side with a dab of marshmallow makes it look like a cup of cocoa. Now you have me wishing for fall and winter! Annie
DeleteHi Annie,
DeleteThose cupcakes sound so fun. What a great idea! Thanks for sharing. Do you bake the s'mores cupcakes with graham cracker crumbs in the bottom of the paper or mold, with batter poured on top?